Senior Doctoral Fellowship Program

Founded in 2007 and now an internationally recognized contemplative science program, Buddhism, Psychology & Mental Health engages rigorous interdisciplinary research interactions between scientists, academics, health practitioners and contemplative traditions. Emerging from decades of global research on interactions between Buddhist traditions and the sciences, the program trains students in qualitative and quantitative research, scientific literacy, and writing skills, and it aims to foster in students a multi-epistemic literacy that is ethically grounded in dialogue and collaborative learning.

We seek a doctoral fellow working in contemplative science, broadly understood, focused on forms of meditative or embodied practice, their histories and contexts within philosophical, secular, or religious traditions globally, or their clinical or pedagogical applications in society. The BPMH Senior Fellow will also be a member of and participate in regular meetings of the BPMH’s advanced research unit, the EASE Lab.

The Centre for Caribbean Studies offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that consists of courses on Caribbean history and society, politics and economic development, literature and thought. Our courses deal with a wide range of issues including gender, religion, culture, ethnicity, race, development, language, colonialism, the environment and regional common markets. Caribbean Studies equips students to think about broad, theoretical and challenging intellectual issues and, at the same time, to ground that expansive thinking in deep understanding of the particular historical, political, economic, geographical, cultural and linguistic realities of the Caribbean and its diasporas. This combined interdisciplinary and area studies approach prepares students to think across disciplines about these kinds of questions, and to base their comparative, transnational and interdisciplinary thinking in concrete knowledge of the Caribbean and its people. The study of the Caribbean equips students to question the order of things, reflect on their own place in the world, and see past the Caribbean’s size or current level of geo-political influence to recognize the inherent value and intellectual significance of all places and all people.

For over 25 years, the Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity program has been a hub of academic excellence, pedagogical innovation, and community-engaged learning, supporting students to develop a deep understanding of social in/equities in local and global contexts. Rooted in principles of political participation, social justice, and activism, the program explores interconnected struggles for equity and justice, emphasizing collaborative approaches to systemic inequalities and promote meaningful engagement across diverse communities. The CSES curriculum makes a distinction between neoliberal conceptions of equity, which reinforce existing systems of inequality, and critical equity, which seeks to address inequity as a structural and systemic phenomenon. Faculty expertise spans areas such as colonialism, settler colonialism, capitalist imperialism, political economy, race, gender, sexuality, disability, food in/security, migration, sustainability, activism and social movements, anti-colonial thought, solidarity and the art of resistance. Putting theory into action, teaching and learning takes place both in the traditional university classroom and beyond, including in cultural and social movement spaces and with local and international community organizations. Through the program’s novel focus on collaborative theories, practices, and pedagogies of equity and solidarity, as well as its emphasis on community-engaged learning and social responsiveness, CSES equips students with the theoretical and practical tools necessary to analyze a rapidly changing world.

The program for Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity at New College provides a dynamic and intellectually engaging environment for doctoral students. University of Toronto PhD candidates in the dissertation writing stage whose research aligns with the core areas of the Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity (CSES) program—(1) Critical Disability Studies, (2) Critical Race and Anti-Colonial Studies, and (3) Food Equity, Justice, and Sustainability—are encouraged to apply.

For over 15 years, International Foundations Program (IFP) has been a hub of EAP pedagogy and research within the broader field of applied linguistics that supports international students who speak English as an additional language in their transition to first year study in the Faculties of Arts and Science, Music, and the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. The two-term program follows a form of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) where language learning and academic skill building in three non-credit courses scaffold a first-year humanities course taken for credit. Students are admitted to the program fully meeting the university’s academic requirements and have English placement test (EPT) scores that fall within the program’s EPT range.

In addition to engaging with students and instructors in the program, Senior Doctoral Fellows in IFP will have the opportunity to prepare a professional development session for instructors and/or participate in one of our classes as a guest instructor.